ArguMate — Backend

Express + Socket.IO backend for ArguMate. Handles matchmaking, debate lifecycle, AI judgment, and persistence to MongoDB.

Tech stack

• Node.js
• Express
• Socket.IO
• MongoDB (Mongoose)
• bcrypt, jsonwebtoken
• dotenv

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+ and npm
• MongoDB Atlas or self-hosted MongoDB
• Git

Required environment variables

Create a .env file in the backend folder with these variables:

PORT=5001
NODE_ENV=production
MONGO_URI="your_mongo_connection_string"
JWT_SECRET="a_long_random_secret"
FRONTEND_ORIGIN="https://your-frontend-domain.com"
GROQ_API_KEY="your_groq_api_key"

Setup (local)

1. Clone repo: git clone
2. Change to backend folder: cd debate/debate-backend
3. Install dependencies: npm ci
4. Create .env (see variables above)
5. Run in development: node main.js